Meeting in Indianapolis this week, the NCAA rules committee will discuss the possibility of rule changes to improve player safety and shorten games, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, who confirmed a recent report by Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger.
The committee will consider using a running clock after a team converts a first down prior to the final two minutes in each half, not allowing teams to call back-to-back timeouts and eliminating untimed downs when a foul is committed as time expires to end the first and third quarters.
“A year or so ago, we began to pivot away from just worrying about the clock to the number of plays per game, student-athlete exposures, and that has really become more the direction now, led by our commissioners,” said Steve Shaw, NCAA football secretary rules-editor and officials coordinator, per Dinich. “With the focus on player health and safety and the CFP and extended playoff, which could create more games for players, it’s appropriate to look at what are these numbers of student-athlete exposures?”
Part of the reason for the discussion is the NCAA’s eventual transition to a 12-team playoff starting in the 2024 season. Shaw explained that with more games coming for those teams, the organization wanted to consider lowering the actual amount of game action per contest.
However, Shaw said the committee doesn’t want to touch rules within two minutes of each half, as those rules are unique to college football, while there doesn’t seem to be much traction to alter the targeting rules either.
Additionally, a potential rule where the clock would start after an incomplete pass when the offense is ready has reportedly not been popular enough to discuss.
